A fleet of 12 National 12 teams were greeted by sun and wind for the May Bank Holiday weekend open meeting at Derwent Reservoir a combination which led to some exciting racing and a few interesting situations.

The first race started with John Cheetham suffering a jammed rudder blade, causing him to sail with it partly raised and Howard Chadwick (pictured left) suffering the same fate but snapping off a carbon tiller in trying to free the problem.

The fleet got off to a good start with Neil and Yvonne McInnes leading at the first mark in their Baggy Trousers design. However, the pair were eventually overtaken by Peter Miatt and Mathew Ayre in Peter’s Feeling Foolish and John and Alison Cheetham in John’s recently de-keeled Crusader, sporting a new suit of sails and going very fast despite the rudder problems. These positions were maintained to the finish.

Race two saw a full fleet back on the water with Howard’s tiller held together with pieces of wood, tape and a few screws. Peter Miatt was over the line at the start but otherwise the fleet made a clean start with Brian Miatt, now sailing with Yvonne McInnes, first to the windward mark in his Final Chapter, closely followed by Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson also in a Chapter.

On the second beat, Howard picked up a favourable shift and managed to pull through into the lead and hold this position to the finish.

Brian Miatt finished second with Peter Miatt just beating Neil McInnes (now sailing with son Alistair) into third. John and Alison Cheetham retired from the race having spent some time checking the underside of their hull and then deciding on an early shower.

Race three was sailed back-to-back with race two and this time Howard and Helen were first to the first mark, followed very closely by Peter and Alexandra Chigwell and Brian Miatt and Yvonne McInnes in third place. Peter and Alexandra Chigwell were going exceptionally well but were eventually overhauled by Brian’s off wind speed. Several severe gusts went through the fleet with one on the second run causing capsizes for both Neil McInnes and Peter Miatt. Throughout the event Peter Roe and Helen Bird put in some consistent results to finish in fourth place overall as the final results revealed.

Overall Results

1st Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson, N3384 Final Chapter design

2nd Peter Miatt and Mathew Ayre N3448 Feeling Foolish design

3rd Brian Miatt and Yvonne McInnes N3313 Final Chapter design

4th Peter Roe and Helen Bird N3149 Baggy Trousers design

5th Neil McInnes and Alistair McInnes N3216 Baggy Trousers design